Josh Duggar faces child pornography charges

Name: WORLD
Price range: $

U.S. Marshals arrested the former reality TV star in northwestern Arkansas on Thursday. The next day, the government unsealed a federal indictment charging Josh Duggar with downloading and possessing child pornography. He pleaded not guilty on Friday, and his attorneys said they planned to defend the cases “aggressively and thoroughly.” He has a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The charges carry a sentence of up to two decades in prison and $250,000 in fines for each count.

Who is he? TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting featured the Duggar family, professing Christians who homeschooled their children, until the network pulled the show in 2015 over reports that Josh, the oldest son, had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. Duggar has previously acknowledged pornography use and infidelity to his wife.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Leigh Jones’ report on the molestation scandal.

Rachel Lynn Aldrich

Rachel is a former assistant editor for WORLD Digital. She is a Patrick Henry College and World Journalism Institute graduate. Rachel resides with her husband in Wheaton, Ill.